Pistons come back from three points ahead with 1:33 left in the game to lose the game and keep their record in tact in not scoring 100 pints this season. Yep with the Pistons up 98-95, on a three by JJ, Brandon Knight misses two FT which would have put the Pistons at 100 and a better chance of upsetting the Heat. Instead, Lebron goes to the line on a phantom foul and makes 2 freebies to inch the Heat closer at 98-97. Then Damien Wilkens who was in for the fouled out Stuckey loses the ball out of the bounds and Lebron is fouled again and puts the Heat up by 1, 99-98.

The Pistons miss another opportunity as Daye is short on 3 pt attempt. A rebound put back by Knight is long, but the Pistons get another shot with about 10 seconds left and Monroe's shot bounces off to the left again. LeBron grabs the rebound and is fouled and makes two more FT's to push the lead to 3. The Pistons had one more chance to tie, but the Miami defense forces the Daye to travel and the game was over. Another exciting loss for the 1000 fans who showed up to tonight's showcase.

Good effort, and way better than the the non-effort they displayed on Monday night vs the Thunder. Wish Stuckey had not fouled out as we probably would have had a better chance to top 100 and win the game with him in it. Wilkens does a decent job on defense, but just does not seemed focused enough on the offensive end. Tay was out due to a family matter...not sure if we was just afraid of being there for the 16th straight loss to Lebron or he was with his lawyer trying to register the "Prince" name in the motor city before Fielder came and grabbed all of the princely endorsements

Daye had his best game of the season and best as a pro, but they blanketed him in the 4th qtr and he could not do what he did in the second qtr. Someone in the chat room...I think it was Linwood said that Daye only plays well when Tay is nowhere in sight....time to trade Tay???

We killed them on the boards to the tune of 43-26, but those 17 turnovers killed us....especially that last one by Wilkens....

I taped the endings of both the Pistons broadcasts and the Heat broadcast as I wanted to hear the excuse in case the heat lost. On the heat Broadcast there was Denard Robinson Cheesing it up with Lebron for a photo op instead of being back in Ann Arbor studying....

Not to be outdone, the Pistons network did show Matt Stafford earlier in their broadcast.......

Let's hope it was good, Nemo. Right now, this team needs all the help it can get. Was (pleasantly) shocked to open my LP feed and see us only down 5 in the first, but kept dreading a Fourth Quarter Collapse. Didn't come, but still couldn't pull it out in the end. We'll get 'em next time, loved the effort.

First of all, good job Austin! Career high 28 points. They trusted him down the stretch to take the shot, and he did make a few clutch shots last year. Painful travel there at the end, probably should've passed that back to Brandon once the double came, but he had a fantastic offensive game anyway, probably the biggest reason the Pistons kept it close in the first half. I know I hate on him a lot, and it's just one game, but if he can be our Kyle Korver offensively, I'd be glad to put my hand up and admit I was wrong. Liked him pulling the chair on LeBron there too; Rick Mahorn must've loved that. His defense needs work though.

Greg had a good game, in fact his best game in a while, on both ends. Loved his effort, he grabbed some huge, huge rebounds down the stretch, made some really clutch free throws as well. He missed a potentially game-tying shot at the end, and it was close, but credit to Miami for making it hard for him there.

Brandon was okay. The biggest thing people might point to was him missing both free throws at the end, but the guy did decently well overall. He had five assists for the game, but the biggest one had to be the one to JJ for the 3 that put his team up 2 with 3 minutes left. Played 41 minutes, only really resting between quarters.

Stuckey was up and down, clearly hampered by that groin injury. He really needs to sit out a game or two, he looks like he's really hurting out there. Good job doing what he usually does, get in the lane and drawing fouls. Fouled out at the end, robbing the Pistons of their go to free throw shooter (phantom foul btw, and one that sent LeHype to the charity stripe).

JJ - his highlight was that top of the key 3 that got the crowd up and cheering. Solid game for him.

Russell played only 4 minutes. I like him, but I'm pretty sure he'll be out of the rotation once our other guards are healthy, too bad really. He brings good change of pace.

Max has Stone Hands.

Big Ben was vintage with 3 blocks in the first quarter. Couldn't quite sustain it the rest of the way, though that's to be expected.

Good effort. Minimized the offensive droughts, moved the ball decently well for the most part. The turnovers really hurt though, 17 for the game for 24 points compared to Miami's 11 giving the Pistons 15 points (9 point differential). Edit: I agree Dre, Wilkins working the Max hands there hurt a lot.

If Stuckey wouldn't have fouled out I think we would have had this one. Replacing him with Wilkins made it too easy for the Heat to stop us. Also, a really bad and critical turnover when Jerebko passed it softly to him and he just sort of fumbled it out of bounds.

Knight's FT misses were bad, but a learning experience. His first pressure FT's as a pro. Look at Lebron now at the line. Also, a bit of a careless turnover trying to pass it through traffic on one of the final possessions (the one that Lebron snatched). I thought on the final possession that Knight should have taken an open 3 from 4-5 feet outside the arc as he was coming up court. That was the best shot that we were going to get with our only other threats not being able to create their own shot and the Heat guarding the 3-point line only.

While it would have been pretty cool to beat the Heat, we did succeed at the most important thing, which is losing. This was actually the ideal game- close, interesting, break out performance by a young player, but just not quite good enough to get the W.

Usual assortment of coaching mistakes. One, playing Wilkins. Two, playing JJ at power forward, where he failed miserably at his job of being a power forward, which he is certainly not. Three, immediately using all of Ben Wallace's energy up in the first quarter.

To the good, the announcers said a mechanics problem in Daye's shot was found and corrected, and he has new confidence. Did it ever show. By the end of the game, it was Daye who everyone in the building knew we wanted to take that last shot. Considering Stuckey is way young yet, he, Daye, Knight, and Monroe certainly give a good start to a team. Add in JJ as a backup small forward and you got even a more promising nucleus for a team. To that, let Macklin play to give us more size up front, and Maxiell, Tay, and Ben Wallace for now round out a pretty decent 9 man rotation. And you got a decent extra guard in Russel.

And then get a coach who understands how silly it is to play a small forward as your power forward.

Daye had his shooting touch going from everywhere, and he pulled down plenty of boards too. And if he played extensively at guard, he would be posting up their smaller guards all day long.

Knight loves those floaters and the high kiss off the glass. Not bad when shooting in rythm from the 3 line.

Monroe wasted a 20-10 game.

Stuck just keeps getting to the line - and his outside shot is heating up making it even easier to drive past his guy when played up on.

Stuck played this one with bad groin and all.

Those little things. But if Wilkins was not on the team, nobody would be trying to pass him the ball. And what possible good would have come of it if he had caught the ball anyway out of range like that. Bad coaching.

The missed free throws did hurt. Yes, it was a blatantly bad call that got Bron to the line the first time there.

Great effort. Great promise. And no, losing will not help this team. They just need to win like 3 straight and they are in the playoff hunt. Only 7 teams in the East have decent records. The rest are bottom dwellers. Playoff experience, and getting into the habit of winning far trump getting a better draft pick.

We have to go back and think about this one.....when Stuckey fouled out, who was the coach to put in there? Could have tried Walker Russell at that point, but who was going to trust a guy just up from the D league? Well I may have of, if I were coach.... I just don't trust Wilkens or Max on the offensive end of the floor.

I think those missed FT's by Knight just made all of his team mates nervous and uneasy...a young team with no experience on the floor is going to lose these type of close games.

...a young team with no experience on the floor is going to lose these type of close games.

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True that. We saw for many years what happens when your team has clutch veteran closers. Billups was the master of squeezing out victories with a slim lead by playing smart basketball and by making FT's. But he didn't have the ability for the first 4 years of his career. It built up over time and through mistake making.

I was thinking the same thing regarding this. Gores needs to bring in a family councelor or bust out some cash and hire Dr. Phil. Perhaps Charlie needs to bring some more of that "tomorrow will be a brighter day" crap to the locker room. If he can't manage to crack Frank's rotation, perhaps he can make a contribution by utillizing his gifts as a motivational speaker to help iron out all of the family issues that the team is having.

(Seriously though, I'm going to look like a total jerk if I don't pass my positive thoughts to Tayshaun and everyone else having these issues. I hope that these family matters aren't serious and everything works out ok.)

Perfect game! Tough, fought hard, had a chance, and then lose it (securing our spot in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes). Since I rag on these 2 A LOT! I'll give them credit for some very good performances, Austin Daye and BK7, stand up and take a bow, you deserve it, you played some really good ball last night. Which brings me to this, we're very competitive when we get All-Star performances from 2 players. I'm thinking of the game wher both JJ and GM had 20/10-like performances. Last night GM had 20 and 10, Austin Daye had a Kevin Durant'ish game (sans the killer instinct down the stretch) and BK7 played solid from the PG position (17 & 5 w/a FG% of .500). I believe GM can be a 18 & 10 guy next season, if we can get a legit 20ppg scorer on the wing like we had last night in Austin Daye, with a legitimate PF upfront, we can be really good in a 2 years.

From one quarter vs. Memphis to a tough win over Portland to going toe to toe with Miami, this team is slowly bringing the core competitiveness to each game. Monroe. Hand him his hard hat with his name stenciled on top. He's going to work! Stuckey. Still ahead of Knight as our PG. Its neat to have them interchangeable at times. Knight. I was watching a sequence where Miami went to double on Daye and he passed it to Knight and he hit a running jumper and I was thinking 'that kid is clutch' until he bricked two free throws. Still, that kid is a competitor. Daye. Nice to see him break out. We need that scoring. Mike Miller killed him off the ball but he did a fantastic job on LeBron in the 4th. He's got the length to bother the shot. Still the guy needs to learn he's 5 inches taller than his defender and shoot over him.

The other guys. Overall good effort. JJ needs to get more confident because he can hit those shots he passes up and we need him to help. Too many garbage guys means we get stuck late in the shot clock. I enjoyed watching everyone play. Ben, Maxiell and Wilkins all made plays when it counted.

I was thinking the same thing regarding this. Gores needs to bring in a family councelor or bust out some cash and hire Dr. Phil. Perhaps Charlie needs to bring some more of that "tomorrow will be a brighter day" crap to the locker room. If he can't manage to crack Frank's rotation, perhaps he can make a contribution by utillizing his gifts as a motivational speaker to help iron out all of the family issues that the team is having.

(Seriously though, I'm going to look like a total jerk if I don't pass my positive thoughts to Tayshaun and everyone else having these issues. I hope that these family matters aren't serious and everything works out ok.)

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Has it ever been determined what exactly is wrong with Chuckles? Even when they showed the list of everyone on the Pistons with injuries it just said "6 Minutes Played" under his name with no injury. I guess that beats if it just said "Bad Signing".

Which brings me to this, we're very competitive when we get All-Star performances from 2 players. I'm thinking of the game wher both JJ and GM had 20/10-like performances. Last night GM had 20 and 10, Austin Daye had a Kevin Durant'ish game (sans the killer instinct down the stretch) and BK7 played solid from the PG position (17 & 5 w/a FG% of .500). I believe GM can be a 18 & 10 guy next season, if we can get a legit 20ppg scorer on the wing like we had last night in Austin Daye, with a legitimate PF upfront, we can be really good in a 2 years.

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I'm don't think I buy this. I think the Pistons best player this year has been either Opponents Fatigue or Opponents Indifference.

Has it ever been determined what exactly is wrong with Chuckles? Even when they showed the list of everyone on the Pistons with injuries it just said "6 Minutes Played" under his name with no injury. I guess that beats if it just said "Bad Signing".

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...awesome! I so badly wish I was a computer hacker so I could hack into the Pistons website and put "Bad Signing" in the status category for about 5 or 6 Pistons players.

I think it's hilarious that we don't really have an explanation for Chuck not playing. As long as it continues to read "6 Minutes Played" next to Charlie's name, I'll continue to set aside my cynicism and live life by the theory that the world is as it should be and everything is going to work out for the best.

Has it ever been determined what exactly is wrong with Chuckles? Even when they showed the list of everyone on the Pistons with injuries it just said "6 Minutes Played" under his name with no injury. I guess that beats if it just said "Bad Signing".

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I spent a few minutes googling why he is injured and I'm not making this up - he hurt his ankles while sleeping. He woke up one morning with ankle injuries. This guy is comedy gold even when he's not tweeting or making a fool of himself on the court.

He said he called strength-and-conditioning coach Arnie Kander one morning in pain."It’s crazy because it’s not like I sprained my ankle, I just woke up with my ankle hurting," Villanueva said. "It started from there."

Great effort. Great promise. And no, losing will not help this team. They just need to win like 3 straight and they are in the playoff hunt. Only 7 teams in the East have decent records. The rest are bottom dwellers. Playoff experience, and getting into the habit of winning far trump getting a better draft pick.

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Unless you attain a great player through the draft, free agency or trade, this is literally the blueprint to mediocrity. Look at Philadelphia. They've improved because they kept adding talent, not because they lost in the first round 2 out of the last 3 years. (Sidenote: The shortened season helps a deep team like that) We don't have cap space and haven't shown any recent ability to cox teams into a trade, so the draft is our best bet. True, you can a great player at 5 or 15, but increasing your chances at an impact player can't hurt a team. Playoff experience would help a team like Oklahoma City, not Detroit. There is no replacement for talent.

I do believe, however, that experience is a necessary part of the development of young players. I could be reading way too much into tonight's game, but it seems as though Austin Daye tends to play more comfortably when he's not at threat of spending the rest of the game making conversation with the Gatorade cooler. When shooters begin to overthink their shot selection, it shows. Shooting is instinctual. Hesitation and doubt are just as effective as a defender in your face. Things like this make me wonder why Tayshaun is still on the team or how long he will remain here. No future success of the Pistons will likely rest on heavy production from Tayshaun.

I watched more of the Pistons game last night than any of their previous games combined so maybe I'm off here, but playing the young guys seemed to bring much needed excitement to the Palace (Or was that just T-Pain?). No one likes seeing the same ole same ole, especially when the product is boring and mediocre. But there is an air of freshness around seeing Knight & Daye, G-Mo, and GQ Jonas on the court. I'd buy tickets to see those guys play, not Aging Ben, Tay, and Damien freaking Wilkins. I'd imagine the fans agree. Fun young teams give fans hope. There is no better example of this now than the Minnesota Timberwolves. More games out there together and we won't get final plays were everyone stands around the 3 point line confused trying to figure out if Austin Daye is going to shoot a 28 footer.

Maybe we just caught Miami on the last game of a 4 games, 5 night stretch. Maybe Austin Daye's hot shooting was a fluke. But damn if it won't have me tuning in Friday to see them against the very bland Hawks.

Also, Morris Day for a halftime show? They referred to him as an R&B star. That is some Grade-A trolling by the folks at the PS&E. Will they be giving out autographed copies of Purple Rain along with the GQ Jonas posters?